I Need You Series 3: In My Veins
by r2roswell
Summary: "I will find you, I will always find you"- Those are the words Emma's parents have always lived by and now it's her turn to gather strength from them as the search is on to find Neal. Are they destined to find true love and each other or is life's cruel fate destined to keep them apart?
1. Previously On

**Previously on Once Upon a Time the 'I Need You Series':**

-Mary Margaret said caressing some of Emma's hair and then rubbing her arm. "I am so sorry Emma. I know how much you loved him."

"I did," Emma finally admitted to her mother.

* * *

-The tears were flowing more rapidly now than they had before. Emma couldn't help herself as she reached for one of her pillows and began to scream into it choking with her sobs.

Everything else around her, the people downstairs, none of that mattered. She was lost inside herself hidden away in her room to even think twice about her actions, not caring that her pain was out in the open.

* * *

-"Henry's father is gone."

David shrugged, "Emma says Tamara killed him. I don't know the whole story. She won't talk about it."

A sadness and realization sunk into Regina's eyes. "What's this going to do to Henry?"

* * *

-We'll get him back you know."

Now Emma was really confused, "What?"

* * *

-"Henry won't let this go. Once he gets it into his head that something is true he has a tendency to seek it out to the end," she said glancing over at Emma.

* * *

-Henry thought over for a moment and then looked at Emma, "Although I think we need a sub mission."

"What sub mission?" asked Emma.

"A new mission to get dad back and to get the two of you back together," he said nonchalantly as if Neal wasn't dead at all but just missing and as if Neal and Emma had been together all along. "I'm thinking of either calling it Operation SwanThief"

* * *

-"There are herbs in these woods that will help. In the mean time, try to stop as much of his bleeding as you can. I won't be long."

* * *

-"Emma and I were…are… I'm Henry's father. Emma and I are… it's complicated."

"She never mentioned you," said Aurora.

"We weren't exactly on the best of terms," Neal said as he moved to get comfortable.

* * *

-Tamara made her charge.

"Don't!" Emma said to her.

And as Tamara kept inching forward Emma reached in her back pocket and pulled out her gun. She began to fire sending several rounds into the woman's heart until her clip was empty.

* * *

-"Is he-," said Emma.

"Dead," David said placing Greg's body next to Tamara's.

"And Tamara," asked Mary Margaret.

Emma just shook her head as she stood.

* * *

-Emma took a glance at her parents, Henry, Gold and Regina and her parents nodded to her. Taking a deep breath, Emma tossed the bean in front of them creating the same green portal that she had seen recently. As one they jumped, letting the portal swirl them to where true love waited.


	2. And now the series finale

**_And now the series finally of 'I Need You'_**


	3. 1 The Search Begins

**1. The Search Begins**

* * *

Neal clutched at his heart and his knees gave way under him. Everything came spiraling in his mind at first: Neal being gunned down by Tamara, them slipping into the green pit and Emma holding onto a piece of plywood and him for dear life not wanting to let go and then feeling himself letting go of her hand as he fell into the void but the images didn't stop there this time.

Neal could feel Emma inside himself, as if her mind was connected to his and she was inside his memories. He knew she was feeling and sensing everything around his memories; she could feel his strong body go limp from the weakness of the bullet and what seemed like an endless fall. It was pitched black but the spiraling had stopped so she must have landed but where? There were voices in the distant, muffled at first and then growing closer.

There was a hint of recognition that Neal felt with Emma as he recounted the voices. Emma knew the voices and even though Neal had only met the group recently because of Emma in his memories he felt like he had known them much longer- their minds synchronizing to each other.

The sensation of her being inside him suddenly left.

"Neal," said Pocahontas, "Neal what is it?"

"Emma," he finally choked out in a barely inaudible whisper.

Neal stood up and began walking, taking larger steps away from the group.

"Where you headed," Mulan asked.

"Back where this whole damn thing started," he called out over his shoulder.

* * *

Emma Swan stirred, her eyes closed. It wasn't too hard to forget how much she hated portal jumping. The first time she was only an infant so she was grateful she didn't remember that one. The second time though had not been pleasant having been knocked out on the way through. The third time hadn't been as terrible except for the odd exception of emerging from a well; maybe not as odd though given that her first entrance had been through a tree.

Her head now pounded. She could feel some weight under her left arm which is what got her to open her eyes. She looked down and saw Henry nestled into her side. For a moment she cherished it until she heard the others begin to make similar stirring noises.

"Henry," she said, "You okay kid?"

The two of them both sat up. "Woah, what a trip," he said. Henry looked at his mother and smiled. "Can we do it again?"

Emma couldn't help but smile and shake her head, "Maybe later after we find your father."

As she stood she helped Henry to his feet and went to the others.

"You guys alright," she asked them.

"We're fine," David said helping his wife stand. The others stood as well. "You two okay?"

"We're good," said Emma placing a hand on Henry's shoulder.

"So Miss Swan," said Gold, "What's the plan?"

"How the hell should I know," she asked him.

"Well it' was your dream catcher, your memories that led us here," said Gold.

Emma shook her head and corrected him. "It wasn't my memories, they were Neal's."

"You were inside his head," asked Regina. "How is that even possible?"

Gold just laughed a little and smiled, "Never underestimate the power of true love dearie." He then turned to Emma. "And given that Miss Swan is the essence of true love then nothing is impossible for her."

Emma swallowed a little. She still felt slightly uncomfortable about who and what she was but the more she practiced magic, little by little she was starting to accept some of it. She couldn't dwell on that right now, what mattered was Neal so she had to focus on him and deal with whatever her own issues were later.

"Henry do you have your book with you?"

He smiled and took his backpack off, "I never leave without it," he said taking it out and handing it to her. "What are you looking for?"

"Just a theory I have. Neal was born over three hundred years before me-," she paused for a second. Neal had mentioned that to her once in his apartment and at the time it was still a difficult thing to grasp. Saying it out loud for the first time herself though made it all the more stranger to her and yet despite the three hundred plus year gap between them he was still Neal, still the man she loved and would do whatever it took to find him.

Emma found the page she was looking for. "So let's go back to the place where this all started."

She lingered on the page for a moment of a young Neal, a young Baelfire over a green pit with Gold, Rumpelstiltskin either trying to hang on or let go of his son.


	4. 2 Be Still and Listen

**Author's Note:** _Hey everyone, sorry for the long, excruciating wait. I've just been enjoying my time off from school and considering how I've been non-stop with writing since I began writing SwanThief/Fire fics since last November I really needed the break you know?_

_I really hope this hiatus, if you will, has not turned you off from the story. I've really wanted to continue it. I just had to relax some much like I did from school but I am back and hopefully better than ever!_

_Enjoy! And thanks for your patience._

* * *

**2. Be Still and Listen**

* * *

Darkness had descended across the Enchanted Forest. Mulan and Aurora had torches with them as the group of five, plus the raccoon, made it to some abandoned hut buildings. Like most of the forest this area had been ravaged by the curse. Parts of the buildings were in shambles.

Neal ran his hands over parts of the building silently mourning a long but not forgotten past.

"What is this place," Mulan asked.

"My home," Neal replied.

Philip nodded, "Well camp here for the night," he said as he began to set up.

Neal remained silent as he walked into the battered shack. He hadn't been here since he was fourteen years old but even that wasn't quite accurate given his age of technically over three hundred years. There had been some good memories. His mother was a descent woman but her hatred for his father always soured the household. Rumple was more a parent to him than Mila it sometimes seemed. At times in his young child it felt like Mila resented Bae, blamed him for his father's actions. Neal had loved his father, hadn't cared if he was a coward because at least he had his papa but the second he decided he wanted power over anything else- it was something Neal could never understand. It's what separated him from the monster his father had become.

"This place," Pocahontas said entering the room with Neal, "There's much darkness here, much pain."

"How can you tell that?" Neal asked her.

Pocahontas looked at her surroundings, up to the sky where there was a hole in the ceiling of the home. "I can feel it," she said. She then turned her attention to Neal, "And I can see it from the look in your eyes."

"I'm that easy to read, hu," Neal said looking down.

"Not really," she replied, "I'm just very in tune with the world around me." She took a step toward Neal. "What I can't figure out is why come here when it makes your heart shatter?"

Neal shook his head, unsure of what to say. "Redemption I suppose, closure?" Neal sat on the edge of what used to be an old bed. Some of the legs had collapsed from it but it was still usable for a seat. "Emma's in this world, I don't how but I can feel it," he said looking up at his new friend.

Pocahontas took a seat on the floor next to him. "Your spirits are connected. You calling out to her earlier, coming here, your souls are leading you on a path."

Neal just scoffed, "Well why here? This is the last place I ever wanted to come back to. And if there is a path, is my path and how will I find it?"

Pocahontas smiled, "I asked my grandmother the same thing once. She told me to listen; that all around us are spirits. They live in the earth, the water, the sky. If you listen, they will guide you."

Neal paid close attention to her words. He got up from his seat and made his way outside.

Behind him Pocahontas sang the same song her grandmother had sung to her long ago, "Que que, na tu ra, you will understand. Listen with your heart, you will understand. Let it break upon you like a wave upon the sand. Listen with your heart, you will understand."

She repeated it several times as Neal focused in on his breathing, focused on the fresh breeze that was making its way in for the evening. He had never been religious or spiritual but he understood the meaning of true love and what it meant in this world of all worlds. It wasn't like his previous world where love could be broken easily. In this world when you found love it remained and no challenge in this world or the next could ever break that bond. And the fact that Neal had fallen in love with the purest of all love, the essence of it, only solidified his belief in fate, in her, in love.

Yes he was meant to return to his childhood home but not for Emma's benefit, not yet, but for his own. For so long he had despised his father, but now he found himself grateful because had it not been for Rumpelstiltskin's actions then he and Emma would have never met. The world was connected like a ball of thread- take out one piece and the whole thing becomes useless, there is no point- every web is connected and they were all part of that.

He had come for closure and he found it. And after three hundred years of caring that weight, he felt free. Neal did figure he could not fully forgive his father but at least now he felt ready to give it a second try. His father may have been a bad man but that didn't mean Neal was. He was nothing like his father except for maybe his compassion to love and Neal could embrace at least that part of himself.

Now the next step would be to find Emma and he knew where he would start.

For tonight though he called out to Emma in his heart hoping if anything that the wind would carry the undying torch he long carried for her.

* * *

Elsewhere and at a location twenty miles from Baelfire's home, Emma and her dysfunctional family stopped for the night.

Instead of reading Henry stories from his book, he had wanted Emma to tell him of some of her adventures from last year when she and Mary Margaret had been stuck in the Enchanted Forest so she told him the ogre story of when she thought she had been doing Mary Margaret a favor in protecting her from Mulan and Aurora by firing her gun into the air- something which Regina laughed at and Gold and David stifled theirs. Emma shot them all a look, what, it had not been her fault that the real world had not prepared her to deal with ogres. After their snickering had subsided Emma continued with the story.

Now Emma stood several feet away from the makeshift tents, the tree line to her left and open range in front of her. Regina was watching over Henry as the boy slept. It was strange sharing custody of him this way but at least Regina hadn't tried to kill any of them yet. A part of Emma concocted the idea that so much had happened between them and their families that they were now at a truce of sorts.

Emma heard footsteps behind her and then could feel as Mary Margaret reached for her daughter's hand.

"We're going to find him you know," her mother said with a smile.

Emma let out a deep breath. "I know."

"But something else is bothering you. What is it, spill."

Emma glanced behind her where Henry slept and then turned her attention to the dark and empty woods in front of her.

"For months I tried to deny that Henry looked like his father," she began. "I lied to my son because I was still hurt over what Neal put me through. I've only come around to forgiving him for that. And now being her, being so close to Neal, looking at Henry-," Emma looked at Mary Margaret, "What if we're getting our hopes up? Henry's all ready talked about me and Neal getting back together and the three of us getting a castle."

"He's really thought this through hasn't he?"

Emma crossed her arms, "I just don't want to keep disappointing him."

Mary Margaret rubbed her hand on Emma's arm. "He knows you're trying, we all are."

Emma smiled at her mother.

Mary Margaret took a breath unsure but knowing she had to ask. "What did happen between you and Neal?"

Emma glanced sharply. That was a question that she hadn't been ready for.

"I'm sorry if that seemed out of line," Mary Margaret quickly apologized. "You once said that we didn't know who you were before Storybrooke and you were right we don't but you're my daughter and I'd like to get that chance to know you."

"You won't like what you hear," Emma admitted. "I didn't have the kind of life you wanted."

"I know, but I'm willing to listen, if you let me."

Emma let her mind wander for a bit. She knew what her mother was asking was big, probably the biggest thing next to telling Mary Margaret about when she had been pregnant with Henry. They had all missed out on so much and Emma knew from basic human experience that not only was it a parents greatest wish to see their child get married, it was also a great wish to see their daughter pregnant for the first time. And there was no way of turning back the clock. Mary Margaret and even David had nothing but good to her since her arrival and Mary Margaret to Henry long before that so she knew she owed them that much. And not only did she owe them, she wanted her parents to know her even if her past came with a lot of ugly baggage.

Before Emma could begin telling her mother a swift wind blew through the camp. From the overcast several hours before the group knew they would probably get rained on but this wind was slightly different. Emma closed her eyes. She wasn't sure what it was exactly she was doing. She lifted her head up to the empty skyline and let the wind fill her. There was a personal touch to it that much was clear. The sensation resonated in not just the wind but through her body until the physically powerful part reached her heart. At that moment she truly knew.

Emma smiled. Maybe she wasn't getting her hopes up after all.

"Neal," she said out loud.


	5. 3 I Will Always Find You

**3. I Will Always Find You**

* * *

"Good, just like that," Mary Margaret said to Henry who gripped a bow in hand.

Late last night Mary Margaret had fashioned a bow, quiver and some arrows for her grandson before calling it a night. She had surprised Henry with it as he woke up and immediately he wanted to train.

David had fashioned a target on one of the trees and Henry fired at the target missing the center by a couple inches.

David and Mary Margaret smiled.

"You're a natural," said David.

"He's the grandson of a prince and a bandit," said Mary Margaret, "Would we really expect anything less?" she said smiling at Henry.

David took the arrow from the target and walked over to Henry, ruffling his hair.

"Guess those skills skipped a generation like everything else," Emma slightly griped after she came to her family from packing up the gear.

"Hey," said Mary Margaret, "You were pretty good with a sword and blades if I recall. That you got from your father."

"I still miss my gun," she complained. Emma's demeanor changed, "We should get moving," she said to her family.

"Any idea where we're headed," asked Regina.

"Yeah," replied Emma, "Neal's childhood home. We're about twenty miles east from it," she said to them unsure of how she knew that. Even Gold was impressed with how she knew since distance wasn't something that was covered in Henry's book. Still no one questioned it. "We should get there by the afternoon."

"Then let's get moving," said David.

Emma motioned to Henry, "You need help with that stuff kid?"

Henry smiled, "I got it," he said placing his quiver over his shoulder the way he had seen Mary Margaret do countless of times in the book and on this journey. He held the bow with his right hand and after Emma strapped her pack, with his left hand Henry reached for Emma's right; the two of them walking first and the other three behind.

* * *

Sure enough by the afternoon Emma's family had arrived at Neal's old home. Neal however was nowhere to be found.

Regina looked at Gold and could see a look of trepidation on his face. In the countless years of knowing him, Gold had never been forthcoming about his life or about his son.

She sighed, "I probably shouldn't be asking this but are you okay?"

"Being back here brings a lot of memories is all," said Gold.

"Good ones or bad?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"Just trying to understand you Rumple that's all," Regina said with a slight shrug. "All I've known from you is darkness and yet you had a family, you had a son. What happened to you?"

Gold looked at her, "Now you're pushing it dearie," Gold said walking away from Regina to inspect the grounds as they heard Henry call out.

"Mom!"

Quickly both Regina and Emma made their way to Henry thinking something may have happened to him inside the torn down house.

"Henry," called out Emma beating Regina inside. Emma placed a hand on Henry's back. "You okay, kid?"

"I'm fine," he replied.

"Don't scare me like that," commented Regina.

Henry looked back at her. "Sorry." He turned his attention to Emma, "Look," he said to her, "I found this under the pillow."

Henry handed Emma what was some torn fabric. It was folded neatly with a rock on top of it to seal the edges. On the rock her name was hand written.

Emma took a breath knowing instantly whose handwriting it was from.

"It's from him," Emma said in a barely audible whisper.

"Well are you going to open it," Henry asked eagerly.

Emma hesitated before removing the rock. She unfolded the sides and inside was a second folded piece of fabric which she then unfolded. In it was a round wooden pendant with a swan, very similar to the one Neal had given her long ago. The detail on the wooden trinket was exquisite, another of the many things about Neal that she didn't know about. He was constantly surprising her.

On the fabric was a hand written note which she read silently and in it read:

_Not as good as the real one but hope you like it._

Emma held onto the trinket and placed the first fabric aside and then read the second note:

_Everything that happens, happens by design._

_Fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it,_

_the point is maybe we met for a reason._

_I'll be at the place where your life began._

_I'll wait for you._

_I love you and I'll see you soon._

_-Neal_

Emma wiped away some tears using the cuff of her jacket. She tightened her grip on the trinket and made her way out of the house.

"Emma you okay," Mary Margaret asked seeing the look on her face.

"What happened," David asked, "What did you find?"

Emma held out her hand to reveal the trinket. "Neal left this," she said to them.

Mary Margaret inspected it. "It looks exactly like the silver one you used to have."

"Whatever happened to that one anyways," Henry had asked; the group of five standing together.

Emma placed the trinket in her zipper pocket for safe keeping. "I gave it back to Neal in New York."

"Why would you do that," Henry asked not fully understanding.

"Gave it back," said Mary Margaret, "I don't understand."

Emma took a deep breath, "Neal gave me the keychain back when we were together," she said not elaborating as to how he gave it to her. "We have to go," she said her heart slightly racing, knowing that in a matter of days she would be with him. From the looks of things they were only a day behind Neal and the others.

"Go where," Regina asked.

Emma looked at her parents, "Home."

* * *

Neal rubbed his hands over the downed crib. He had seen it in his son's book. The place was ravaged just like so much of the Enchanted Forest.

"Snow brought us here once," said Mulan.

"Do you really think she'll show," Aurora asked.

Neal made his way to the window. "She'll show." He turned to his friends. "Thanks for the guide but I think I can take things from here."

"You don't think we're leaving do you," Aurora said taking a step toward him.

"You don't have to be here," Neal said. "I all ready interrupted your lives when I came through the portal. It no longer has to be."

Mulan and the others came forward as well.

"We're not going to walk away," said Pocahontas. Meeko made a noise in agreement.

"She's right," said Mulan. "We came this far with you."

Pocahontas nodded, "We want to see this through to the end."

Philip smiled, "Make sure you find your happy ending."

Neal smiled. He had given his friends an out but they were willing to stand by him no matter how long it took for them to wait here for Emma.


	6. 4 Thief That Stole Your Heart

**4. Thief That Stole Your Heart**

* * *

"Hey mom," Henry said to Emma as the family continued walking through the woods.

They weren't far from the castle now, just a few more miles.

Emma looked at her son as continued what he was going to say. "Can you tell me the truth about dad? Back in New York you told me he was a thief and a bad guy but you never told me why. I'd like to know."

Emma looked at her parents who were standing to Henry's right side. They gave her a sympathetic look. From behind both Gold and Regina looked up when they heard Henry's question.

Emma couldn't help but to bite the bottom of her lip. She really wished that there would be a time when she could tell Henry this story in a more private setting but given that he had asked all ready that wasn't going to happen and she had made a promise to him about never lying again. There didn't seem to be a way around this one so Emma sighed.

"I was only seventeen when I met your dad. I had just gotten out of the system a few months before and was living on my own. I was living in Portland, Oregon at the time when I stole that yellow bug."

Henry's eyes widened, "You stole that car?"

Emma laughed a little at his remark. "It's a little more complicated than that. I wasn't the first one to steal it. I had driven for a few miles when your dad popped up in the back seat." She turned to look at Henry, "Kind of like someone else I know."

Henry smiled.

"Turns out your dad had been living in that car and that he had stolen it before me."

From behind them a look of discontent crossed Gold's face. "My son lived in a car, how disconcerting."

Emma ignored Gold's comment.

"We kind of teamed up and well eventually one thing led to another."

"So you were the swan he fell in love with and he was the thief that stole your heart. I like that story. It makes Operation SwanThief make more sense."

Emma just smiled and shook her head. "I think you read too many romantic stories kid, it's time to get you some new books."

Henry shrugged and then asked another question. "Did you know he was Baelfire?"

Emma closed her eyes for a second and turned to look at Gold before turning her attention forward. This time she didn't look directly at Henry.

"No," she answered. "I didn't find that out until I talked to him in New York."

"Did he know who you were?"

Emma just shook her head. Henry was asking a lot of questions. A part of her was annoyed considering that her past was not something she really liked to talk about. In a way she owed it to him to be honest and try to answer his questions as best she could. And in the end he was her son, what kid wouldn't be curious about their parents before they came into the world? Emma could understand that at least.

"Not at first but he eventually found out. That's kind of why he left. After he found out who I was he had to make a choice and he made it." Emma shrugged, "I went to prison for taking the fall on some watches he had stolen."

"Dad sent you to jail!"

"I'm afraid so Henry," Emma said looking at him. She then looked at Regina who was standing shortly behind their son. "And when I went your dad never knew I was pregnant with you." Emma turned her glance upward, fearful of the tears that she could feel were starting to cloud her eyes. "I don't know kid, maybe if he had known things would've turned out differently, for all of us. I know it's probably wishful thinking but maybe we could have been a family."

"We are a family," Henry stated matter of fact. "And if that hadn't happened you wouldn't have come to Storybrooke. You wouldn't have broken the curse, and you wouldn't have reunited with your parents. You and Neal met for a reason. If you hadn't then nothing good would have come from it. I wouldn't have been born and I wouldn't have been brought to Storybrooke to help you break the curse."

Emma looked at Henry. Sure she had considered those things but to hear her son, say those words back to her; he really was an insightful boy.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "You really are a lot like your father, you know that?"

Henry leaned into his mother placing his head on her chest as they walked. "Cool," he said with a smile.

* * *

After another few miles the group came upon the familiar ridge that Emma and Mary Margaret had come to close to a year ago.

The sun was setting giving off a faint glow of the castle.

"Is that it," Henry asked.

Emma took Mary Margaret's right hand in her left and with her right she placed her arm around Henry. "Yeah, that's our home," she said using the same words her mother had declared all that time ago.

Behind them Regina and Gold looked at each other wearily. It seemed like so long ago when Regina had cast the dark curse. She felt she was starting to lose focus as to who she was. All she had known was pain both from her life and her feud with Emma and her family but it was Henry who connected them all so a balance had to be found even if it made both her and Gold uncomfortable since all they were really familiar with was darkness. What could this new truce mean for them, Regina didn't know and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

At the moment all that really mattered was making Henry happy by reuniting him with his father even if it meant giving Emma a happy ending that she herself would never have.

"It doesn't look like much of a castle," said Henry.

"Not yet Henry," said David, "but I'm sure with time we can fix it up. Turn it back into the enchanted palace it used to be."

Emma remained silent. She knew that her parents had been considering coming back permanently and when she had asked Henry about it, he had sparked interest in leaving their home and coming to this one. Emma still wasn't sure what to think about the whole idea. All she had ever known was life in her real world. What would living here mean for her? Could she find her happy ending like David had hoped? Who would she become? Would she still be Emma or would she lose herself along the way, having to learn a whole new way of life.

With these questions Emma then thought of Neal. He clearly must have had the same thoughts, the same doubts, the same fears. He had left the enchanted forest as a child through a portal and lived in Neverland for who knew how long only to then come to the real world in Arizona. Putting the pieces together, from the time she had known Neal it didn't seem as if he had portal jumped anymore after his arrival in Arizona where Neal had claimed to have been from.

"Come on let's go," Emma said as she made her way down the side of the hill not wanting to think about their living situations any longer.


	7. 5 This is Tallahassee

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. I'm taking summer classes so had to get caught up on some work. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**5. This is Tallahassee**

* * *

The day had seemed the longest for Neal as he continued to wait for Emma. He hoped that she had received his message and the present he had left for her. He still couldn't figure out how but he knew she would make her way to his childhood home.

Neal clung to a raggedy stuffed bear he had found in the nursery, his back leaning against a wardrobe sized toy shelf. Aurora, Mulan, and Philip were outside on the turrets to get a view of anyone who might be coming. Meeko was with them and essentially their go-between.

"You should eat something," Pocahontas said handing Neal a bowl of stew.

He looked inside and could see some boiled meat of what looked to be crow intestines and ogre muscle along with various greens. What he wouldn't give for a pizza or a descent New York sized hotdog right about now.

He dug in with the makeshift wooden spoon, swallowed the liquid, and chewed on the meat. This kind of thing had been his norm as a child but he winced at the flavor having long since forgotten the taste.

"Thanks," Neal said after he was through with his first spoonful. "Sorry I haven't helped, I-,"

Pocahontas smiled, "Didn't want to miss her if she showed. I understand. She must really be special if you go through all this for her."

"You have no idea," Neal said after taking another sip. "I'm over three hundred years old and never have I experienced the kind of love that I have with Emma." Neal looked over at Pocahontas. "What do you make of that?"

"The cosmos just knows that sometimes. It goes beyond our basic understanding of what it means to love. That's why it's so powerful."

"And you," said Aurora coming into the room. "Apparently fell in love with the greatest power of all."

Neal smiled and the three of them fell into a silence.

Power had never interested him but he didn't confide that to his friends. It wasn't about power with Emma, never, not at all. She just happened to love combined in a bottle. Neal joked that the cosmos must have had an interesting sense of humor to entrust that much power into a single human being. Still he was beyond grateful that it was Emma.

The silence only lasted a few minutes when the furry little creature came into the room and began making noises to Pocahontas.

Neal looked up. "What's he saying?"

* * *

"Mulan," Mary Margaret said hugging her friend.

"Welcome back," said Mulan. She then hugged Emma as well.

Mulan's demeanor changed when she saw Regina and Gold behind the family of four.

"What are they doing here," she asked in her cold tone as she began to reach for the sword at her hip.

Emma placed a hand to stop Mulan's actions. "They're family," she said vouching for them. "Regina is Henry's other mom and Gold… Rumpelstiltskin is Henry's grandfather."

Mulan's eyes widened. "You're Henry's grandfather?"

Gold raised a hand. "Why does that fact keep surprising people?" he asked.

"Neal didn't tell you?" asked David.

Mulan replied. "No, he hasn't exactly been forthcoming about himself." She inspected Gold. "Now I understand why."

"Okay," Emma said impatiently. "Can we do all of this later? Where is he, where's Neal?"

"He's waiting for you in the nursery."

Henry smiled, "I know where that is," he said racing his way inside.

"Henry wait," Emma called out.

She smiled and shook her head. If she were his age she'd be doing the same thing but she was a mom so some sort of composure was in order.

Mary Margaret smiled and nodded at her daughter, "Go, we'll be right behind you."

Emma took a deep breath knowing the moment was so close behind those doors.

"Good luck," David said to her.

And with her parents validation Emma followed her son inside.

At the terrace Neal tapped the edge for what felt like hours but at best was only minutes. Aurora and Pocahontas stood near the downed crib giving Neal some much needed space.

* * *

"Dad," Henry said after having run inside to the nursery.

Neal turned at the sound of his son's voice.

"Henry!"

The boy ran toward his father hugging him tightly.

"Henry what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

Henry turned to the door where Emma stood in a state of shock.

"Emma," Neal said almost breathlessly.

"You're really here," Emma said as she ran toward him.

Henry moved out of the way and the couple embraced. Their faces met, their lips coming together for the first time in ten years.

"Guess we came in at the wrong time," David said as he and his wife smiled, the others entering behind them. David placed his hands on his grandson's shoulders.

After a couple of minutes Emma and Neal pulled away.

"Wow," said Neal, "That was…"

"Magical," Emma said.

Neal smiled at her word choice, "Exactly that."

Emma placed her hand to Neal's abdomen. "Your gunshot," she said to him.

Neal placed his hand over hers and smiled, "Perfectly healed."

"You had me worried you know."

"I know. I'm sorry. How did you know I was alive?"

Emma let out a small smiled and looked over at Henry.

"How do you think, you've got a smart son."

"Where did he get the brains anyways? I know it wasn't from me."

"Don't look at me I didn't even graduate high school."

"Well he does come from a special family." He changed the subject. "So did you get it?"

Emma turned her attention to him and opened the pocket in her jacket pulling out the wooden trinket.

She ran a finger over the carving, "It's perfect," she said to him.

"But it's not as good as the real one," he said reaching into his own pocket, pulling out the keychain that Emma had given back to him in New York.

For a moment Emma was speechless. She had given back the keychain to Neal with the intent of never seeing it again. The fact that he had held onto it this whole time with the clear purpose of returning it to her someday, Emma could not fully express how much she loved him at this very moment.

Emma turned around so he could clasp it around her neck. She then turned back to him and his eyes were gleaming.

"Right where it belongs," he said with a smile. Neal inspected Emma. There's just one thing missing," he said to her.

Emma looked at him, unsure of what he meant.

"Meeko," he called out.

The tiny raccoon who was on top of the toy dresser climbed down, over Mary Margaret, Henry and then made his way over to Neal climbing on the man's shoulder. He stuck out his tiny paw and placed something in Neal's hand.

"Good boy," he said to his new furry companion.

Neal got down on one knee and with his two fingers he held out ring that was made out of some steel he had found at his old home. He had fashioned it his liking and then inscribed swans and flames around the circle. The inside was a description that read 'SwanFire=Tallahassee."

Emma's parents gasped and Henry had the hugest grin on his face.

"Emma Swan," said Neal, "Will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Emma looked up at him and replied, "What do you think?"

Neal smiled as he placed the ring on her finger. He then stood and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You just couldn't wait could you," she asked him.

"I think we've waited long enough don't you? I mean I know it's not Tallahassee but-,"

"It's like the ring said, we are Tallahassee, always have been."

The two smiled one more time before they went in for a long and deep kiss. No time, no one person, could stop this moment. The world could bring on its threats but they would be oblivious to them. Time had stopped and all that mattered was them and the longing they held for all these years. Their journey of finding each other having finally reached its end.

* * *

**~END~**


	8. Special Feature: Deleted Scene

**Deleted Scene: ****Chapter 2**

* * *

_**Author's Note: I had wanted to include this scene but when it came down to it, the scene felt more like filler which is why I have included it in the deleted scene section.**_

_**Takes place shortly after Emma say's Neal's name.**_

* * *

Mary Margaret looked at her daughter with a confused stare. Emma turned and on her face was the biggest smile Mary Margaret had ever seen in a while.

"Did you feel that?" Emma asked in wonder.

Mary Margaret looked around and then at her daughter. "The wind, yeah I felt it."

Emma shook her head, "No it was more than that. Neal was calling out to me. I don't know how but I felt it."

From a few feet away Gold shook his head as he came up to the two women. David followed suit.

"When are you going to understand dearie," Gold said to Emma. "You are the essence of true love. You stemmed from it therefore you are it. I once bottled true love in a potion but you my dear Miss Swan, well you are that bottle."

"Well that's-," Emma said trying to think of the right words to use but not finding any, "I don't even know what to say to that."

Gold circled his hands to the sky. "The universe is filled with many great powers. There are forces greater than us that conspire, forces that even I have no reach or access to." He turned his attention to Emma. "It was they who chose you, to place their most precious commodity, they who chose your parents to be the bearers of such great power."

Emma looked from her parents to Gold. Neal had been right all along, the exact same words spoken from Gold's mouth about their being forces greater that conspire.

"And my connection to Neal," said Emma wanting to know more.

Gold smiled, "My theory on that is your souls were connected long before either of you were born."


End file.
